


Stronger

by MonacaTogami



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Despair Disease (Dangan Ronpa), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Self-Indulgent, Soft Togami Byakuya, Togami Byakuya is Bad at Feelings, but I'll try, idk I just like the idea of Byakuya with despair disease, not sure if I'll ever finish this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26396830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonacaTogami/pseuds/MonacaTogami
Summary: After Byakuya is missing the morning after Sayaka's trial, Chihiro investigates, finding Byakuya has fallen ill with something Monokuma calls "Despair Disease."
Relationships: Fujisaki Chihiro/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 28
Kudos: 99





	1. Hey, Where's Togami?

It was another morning for Hope’s Peak’s students, if you could even call them that. They were gathered in the cafeteria for breakfast, as they did every morning spent trapped in this place. The air around them was tense, just as it always was, although the tension seemed to be more dense today as opposed to others. Everyone was still rather shaken up about the incident the day prior. It was hard to believe three of their classmates had died, all in the same day. And in gruesome fashion, no less. 

Chihiro was especially shaken up by the matter, never having been one that was good with stomaching these kinds of things. Once, he had rode past a dead bird on his bike, and came home crying. He supposed that incident seemed rather trivial now, though. In fact, all of his problems--big and small--seemed nothing compared to what he had been faced with, these past few days. 

Finding himself at a loss for appetite, he pushed his breakfast aside. He looked up, deciding to focus on what was going on around him, rather than facing the awful events that replayed in his head. His eyes scanning everyone present, he registered each of the names in his mind.  _ Sakura Oogami. Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Mondo Owada. Bya- wait, what? _

Chihiro blinked, staring at the empty seat that was usually occupied by a certain “Ultimate Affluent Progeny.” Given Byakuya was usually one of the first ones there, it struck him as odd he wasn’t present now. In fact, it seemed as though he was the only one not there at that moment. 

Chihiro couldn’t say he was the most fond of Byakuya--the progeny had hurt his feelings more than once, and wasn’t exactly the most pleasant person to be around--but it wasn’t in Chihiro’s nature to not give him the benefit of the doubt. So he was, at the very least, concerned by Byakuya’s absence. 

Makoto seemed to be the only other one who shared this sentiment, standing up and asking if anyone had seen the blonde, to which a chorus of “no” and head shaking were offered in response. 

“Will anyone help me look?” Makoto asked, and again was met with the consensus of “no.” 

“No one?” Makoto sighed, “I know he’s not the best person in the world, and while I don’t want to believe it… there could have been another mur-”

“I’ll help you look,” Chihiro found himself volunteering. Something about the situation wasn’t sitting right with him, and well, if no one else was going to help Makoto out, he figured he might as well. It would help ease his nerves a little, especially after Makoto’s suggestion that the progeny may have been killed. He was sickened at the thought, not to mention terrified. 

Makoto gave a faint smile and nodded to Chihiro. “Thanks, Fujisaki.” 

The two left the cafeteria, heading toward Byakuya’s room, to start their investigation. Makoto didn’t seem as talkative as normal, likely because he was just as nervous as Chihiro himself was. The closer they got to Byakuya’s door, the more the realisation that something bad could have happened set in. 

The pair soon arrived at Byakuya’s door, giving each other a concerned glance, before Makoto reached up and knocked. 

“Togami…?” he called, then listening for a response. None was given. Chihiro heard shuffling, but Makoto didn’t seem to notice, asking Chihiro to keep trying while he searched the other areas of the building. 

Chihiro focused on the door, listening attentively, as he reached his hand up and knocked again. 

“W...who's there…?” he heard a faint voice call from the other side. 

“T… Togami?” Chihiro asked nervously, reaching toward the door handle. “It’s Fujisaki… c… can I come in?”

There was a pause. 

“The door is unlocked…” the voice--likely Byakuya, although Chihiro couldn’t be sure, as it sounded nothing like him--hesitantly replied. Taking a gulp, Chihiro twisted the nob, and softly pushed open the door. He stepped inside the dark room, surveying his surroundings. It was hard to see without a light, but Chihiro could make out a table, an open instrument case, and papers scattered across the floor in the corner of the room. Given the context, Chihiro assumed them to be sheet music or something of the sort. He noticed a lump on the bed, shaking slightly. He flipped the light on, and then, approaching it carefully, he heard a small whimper come from under the blankets. 

“Togami? Is that you?” the small boy asked, sitting down on the end of the bed. He waited for a response, bracing himself to be scolded for sitting so close, or asking a dumb question, because, of course it was him, this was his room after all. Surprisingly, nothing of the sort occurred, and instead the blanket slowly peeled off to reveal a blonde head. And even though he didn’t lash out, or scare Chihiro in any way he was expecting, Byakuya’s expression was much more unsettling to Chihiro. 

He looked terrified. Dried tears were stuck to his cheeks. His face was sickly pale, and it almost looked like he had a fever. The progeny was a mess. 

“Ah!” Chihiro exclaimed, startled by Byakuya’s appearance, if he were being honest. Byakuya flinched in response, covering his head up with the blanket, more startled than Chihiro was, which was even more of an odd occurrence. Taking a deep breath, Chihiro paused for a moment, before reaching out and pulling the blanket down again. 

“I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to scare you,” the small boy quickly apologised, feeling more confused by the second. Byakuya was obviously acting strangely, and Chihiro had no idea why, or if the blonde even realised it. 

Byakuya hesitantly sat up, revealing his silk, green jim jams. Chihiro stifled a laugh; of course that was what he wore to bed. 

“It’s okay…” Byakuya responded with a sniffle. Chihiro gave him an apologetic smile, before deciding it was time to get to the bottom of things. 

“Why didn’t you come to breakfast?” he asked softly, trying to be as careful with him as possible. 

“I… I was asleep for a long time… and when I woke up I heard people coming and I got scared! I thought someone was coming to kill me… or Monokuma was coming…!”

“Upupupu! I heard my name?” said an all too familiar being, who popped up, seemingly out of nowhere. Byakuya and Chihiro jumped, the former letting out a small shriek, and burying himself under his blanket once more. Chihiro felt small tears prick his eyes, but tried his best to hold them back. Strengthening his resolve, he sent the most harsh glare he could muster toward Monokuma (although this probably looked adorable), and demanded (asked) to know what he was doing there. 

“I came to see my patient, o’course!” the bear responded. 

Chihiro tilted his head slightly in confusion. “Patient…?”

“Yeah, seems Togami here’s caught despair disease,” he shook his head, “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Haven’t had a case this bad in… ever.”

“Despair… disease…?” Chihiro repeated. Monokuma’s explanation was raising more questions than it answered. 

“That’s what I’m sayin’ kid! Duh-spair duh-sease. Despair disease! Togami’s got it  _ real  _ bad.”

“What is… that? D… Despair disease?”

“It’s this annoying disease where you get a high fever, along with various other symptoms that are super despair inducing!”

“Other symptoms like… what, exactly…?”

“Well, some people have had… changes, so to speak…” Monokuma mumbled.

Chihiro understood. So that’s why Byakuya was acting so strangely. 

“But… how’d he get it?” Chihiro asked, glancing at the scattered sheet music that was on the floor, and wondering if this disease had something to do with why they weren’t cleant up. He made a mental note to pick them up later.

“Heck if I know! I’m just tryna find a cure here,” Monokuma answered. “Rumour has it, there are these tiny bugs… but I thought those were only a tropical thing! Oh well.” The bear shrugged.

“Oh, and one more thing. This disease is _ really  _ contagious, so I’d keep away from him for a while. Let me handle this-”

Chihiro objected. “No, don’t go near him!” He blocked the bear from proceeding any closer. 

“Fine, fine. Sheesh, a bear can tell when he’s not wanted,” he sighed. “Cya!” And he left just as soon as he came.

Chihiro let out a sigh, releasing all the nerves that were pent up from that one interaction. He turned back to Byakuya, who was still under his blanket. 

“He’s gone now,” Chihiro said, uncovering Byakuya’s face, only to see that the ill progeny had fallen asleep. Chihiro couldn’t help but take notice of how peaceful he looked; no sour expression on his face or cruel words on his lips. And no whimpers or shrieks, either. He was almost… pleasant to be around this way. 

Chihiro tucked the taller male in--gently, as to not wake him--and stood up. He picked up the scattered sheet music and closed Byakuya’s violin in its case, taking the sheet music, putting it back onto the stand, and neatly placing both by the cello that sat neatly in the corner of the room. After which he headed to leave, turning the light off. He exited, shutting the door as quietly as possible. 

“Fujisaki!” Makoto called from down the hall, causing Chihiro to flinch. He turned around to see the slightly taller boy running toward him, waving something above his head. As he got closer, Chihiro recognised it to be a book of some sort. Makoto stopped in front of him, bending over to catch his breath. 

“Take a… look at… this…” the brunet huffed out. Chihiro took the book from his hands, and looked it over. There was a dark brown stain on the cover, and the pages were bent inward, as if it had been dropped. 

“The stain on the cover is coffee,” Makoto informed, seeing the curious expression on Chihiro’s face. “I didn’t find Togami anywhere, but I’m pretty sure this book is his.” Chihiro handed it back to Makoto. 

“Is it a clue?” he asked, to which Makoto replied that he wasn’t sure yet. 

“It could be. Anyway, I’m guessing you didn’t see Togami at all when I was gone?”

Chihiro shook his head. He didn’t exactly know why, but he couldn’t let anyone know of Byakuya’s condition. Maybe he wanted to protect Byakuya’s ego, maybe he didn’t feel like answering questions, or maybe he didn’t want to scare anyone, especially Byakuya himself, but the most likely reason was that he was scared of this disease, and didn’t want to risk anyone else being exposed to it. At least, that’s what he himself figured. 

“Thought so. Maybe we should investigate his room, there could be a clue in-”

“No!” Chihiro exclaimed, jumping in front of Makoto as he reached for the doorknob. Makoto gave a concerned expression, and Chihiro had to think fast. 

“Uhm… I… I tried to earlier, but… the door is locked. So… it’s no use,” Chihiro explained. Makoto seemed to believe the falsehood, and nodded. 

“Alright. Well, I think we better tell everyone else about what we’ve found, right?”

“Yeah…” Chihiro agreed, offering a nod. “I’ll meet up in just a second.”

“Okay,” Makoto said, and began walking back toward the cafeteria. 

Chihiro sighed, and peered inside the room once more, seeing that Byakuya was still asleep. He grabbed his small notepad and pen that he kept in his left shoe (just in case), and wrote a small note to Byakuya, placing it on the table that sat in the centre of the room.

'I’ll knock three times.

\-  Fujisaki'

After leaving the note, he walked out again, locking the door this time. Taking one last, deep breath, he proceeded back toward the cafeteria, to completely lie about everything that just happened. 


	2. He's Still Human

Chihiro walked into the cafeteria, catching the back end of Makoto's sentence as the brunette gave the rest of the class an update. 

"--happened last night. Oh, Fujisaki!" Makoto exclaimed as he noticed Chihiro's presence. 

Chihiro gulped, wondering how well he'd be able to keep this up. He wasn't exactly the best liar, and if he somehow slipped up, everyone would become suspicious of him. And if something bad happened to Byakuya, everyone would immediately suspect him! _No, don't think like that! Nothing's going to happen to Togami, so just calm down and act natural..._

"Uhm, Fujisaki? Are you okay?"

Chihiro looked up at Makoto, realising he had zoned out. "Y-Yeah! I'm just..." he thought for a moment, "I'm just worried about Togami..." 

That wasn't an entire lie, and it was apparently believable enough, as Makoto nodded. "Me too. I mean... what if he's dead? What if one of us murdered him and incinerated his body or something? What if we never find him and we all die?"

Makoto seemed like he was starting to panic. Chihiro opened his mouth, planning to comfort him. However, he didn't have the chance to, as Mondo's loud voice overpowered his meek reassurances, with a volume that alone almost made Chihiro cry. 

"Who cares if the guy's dead? If ya ask me, we're all better off with out that motherfucker anyway." The whole class looked at the tall man, some in shock, others in a quiet agreement of his sentiment. 

"Owada..." Makoto started, but Chihiro cut him off, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. 

"How can you say that?" the small boy asked, finding himself unable to contain himself. His face was bright red as hot tears continued to poor out, and his green eyes looked up into Mondo's violet ones. 

"What?" Mondo asked nonchalantly, although his eyes held a hint of shock in them which was not immediately evident on his features. 

"How can you say that about him like his life doesn't matter!"

Mondo's expression broke as he genuinely started to be concerned for Chihiro, although whether it was because he felt bad for what he said or because he was concerned that Chihiro suddenly seemed to care about Byakuya was unclear. 

"Why does it matter to you, huh? Don't that bastard treat ya like shit like he does everyone else?!" Mondo asked, sounding more angry than was likely intended, his words doing nothing but distressing Chihiro more. 

"Ye...yes b...but..." Chihiro stammered, "He's still a person!" 

With that, Chihiro only saw fit to evade the situation, lest he say something he'd regret. He quickly ran out of the door, ignoring Makoto and Mondo calling his name, and the rest of his classmates who could do nothing but watch on in shock. 

He got about halfway down the hall before he slowed down. He used his sleeves to wipe away his tears, trying to convince them to stop, but to little avail. How was he going to keep this up?

He felt bad for worrying Makoto by not letting him know that Byakuya was alive, and he also felt bad for Byakuya. Mondo wouldn't say those things if he knew the progeny's condition. Or at least... Chihiro hoped not. Although, he wouldn't put it past Mondo. Knowing the corn-haired man, he probably wouldn't even believe that Byakuya was actually sick. Which is why he just _had_ to keep this whole "despair disease" business a secret. Honestly, Chihiro just hoped that Byakuya would get well soon. Or better yet... that this was all a dream. Yeah, just some silly nightmare his brain had cooked up for him. And he'd wake up at home, to the smell of fresh pancakes and a bright "Good Morning, Cheerio!" from his dad. These thoughts consoled him, for the time being. 

He was going to just head back to his dorm, but as he passed by Byakuya's, he heard strange noises that immediately worried him. He quickly went up to the door and quickly knocked three times, whispering, "Togami!"

"C...Chi-chan?" he heard from the other side, followed by a crash. 

_'Chi-chan...?'_ _He's giving me a nickname now? He must be getting worse..._

After a pause, Byakuya opened the door. Chihiro quickly pushed him in and closed to the door, not wanting to risk someone noticing them. 

"What's going on in here?" Chihiro asked, noticing the table had been knocked over, and then looking the blonde up and down. It took a moment for Chihiro to register but Byakuya was currently in the process of getting dressed. More importantly, he was shirtless, his face bright red from embarrassment. His pale skin was littered with small scars and red marks, but Chihiro's eyes were drawn to the scars that ran under each of Byakuya's pecs, curiously identical. Byakuya, if realising Chihiro's eyeline, quickly turnt around and reached for his undershirt, hastily throwing it on. 

Chihiro found himself in shock, needing a moment to collect himself. 

"I'm sorry! I should have waited to open the door!" Byakuya quickly apologised as he continued getting dressed as quickly as possible, fumbling with the buttons on his dress shirt. 

"I...It's okay," Chihiro finally said, deciding it was best to not dwell on it for now. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"I wasn't going to sit there all day. I felt disgusting, being nothing but a slug," Byakuya responded. That, at least, sounded like something normal Byakuya would say, which gave Chihiro a bit of hope that he could be cured. 

"You're sick, though!" Chihiro protested. "You need your rest, or you won't get better."

Chihiro noticed how the progeny still hadn't managed to properly button his shirt, and sighed, walking over to him. He sat the blonde down on his bed and unbutton the shirt completely, as most of the buttons were fastened in the wrong place anyway, and began to button the shirt correctly. He tried to contain the blush that was slowly creeping up onto his cheeks, Byakuya's own red face being no help to the matter. 

"There!" he exclaimed as he finished. "Now will you please lay back down?" 

Byakuya paused a moment, before nodding, and laying down on the bed. 

"Thank you," Chihiro said. He walked over to the small table that was knocked over and placed it back upright, meanwhile Byakuya watched him.

"Have you been crying?" the progeny asked warily. 

"No," Chihiro lied, "W...Why do you ask?"

Byakuya hummed. "I'm sorry... your eyes are red, so I assumed..." 

It was weird hearing Byakuya sound genuinely concered. But not necessarily in a bad way. In all honesty, it seemed like Byakuya was the only one who did care right now. And given Chihiro was the only one who _could_ care for Byakuya right now, Chihiro was glad his feelings were reciprocated. 

"Don't worry about me, okay? You just need to focus on getting better," Chihiro said with a soft smile. 

"If you say so, Chi-chan."

"Why are you calling me 'Chi-chan' all of a sudden?" Chihiro asked instinctively. 

"D... Does it bother you? If it bothers you I won't say it again!" Byakuya quickly responded. 

"No no! I don't mind! I was just curious," Chihiro quickly calmed him down, feeling a little bad for questioning the nickname in the first place. 

"Well..." Byakuya said fiddling with the end of his shirt in a nervous manner, "Chi-chan's always what I call you in my mind, so... I guess it kind of... started to slip out..."

Byakuya always called him that? Given he had only had this disease for a day, "always" couldn't have just meant since he had gotten it, right? Does that mean Byakuya...? But that was so unlike him, it made no sense. 

Chihiro walked back over to the bed, and sat down on the edge, giving Byakuya a soft smile. "I think... if you give me a nickname, I should be able to give you one, right?" 

Byakuya nodded. "That makes sense."

"Then, why don't I call you... Kuya! How's that sound?"

Surprisingly, Byakuya gave Chihiro a smile. It was a beautiful, genuine smile, that Chihiro would have never in a million years thought he'd see. But it was adorable, if he was to be completely honest with himself. 

_Wait, did I actually just think that?_

"I've always wanted a friendly nickname," Byakuya admitted. "I'm only really used to... not the nicest ones, anyway..."

Did Byakuya just admit to wanting a nickname? Was Byakuya... actually affected by things people said to him? And it was at that point Chihiro realised how stupid of a question that was. Of course he was affected by things like that, Chihiro had said it himself, he was still human. Even if he didn't always act like it. This was starting to become a real eye opener. 

"Then Kuya it is," Chihiro said with a small chuckle. 

Byakuya's stomach growled loudly, interrupting their conversation. Byakuya's face became red with embarrassment, but Chihiro assured him it was okay. 

"I'll go get you something to eat," Chihiro suggested, to which Byakuya responded, "Alright. But don't be too long... it's kind of scary, by myself..."

Chihiro assured him he would be long, and hopped off of Byakuya's bed. He headed toward the door, reminding the progeny to not open the door unless he heard three knocks. He then slipped out, being careful he wasn't noticed. 

As Chihiro walked toward the kitchen, he wondered what it would be like once Byakuya got cured. Would he even remember all of this? Would he be mad at him? What would he even do if he remembered all of this?

And, it was at that very moment it was made clear to Chihiro that he didn't exactly _want_ Byakuya to be cured. 


End file.
